Why Dr. Suess is the Bomb

Today, in a rare moment of selflessness in which I forced aside my own agenda, I pulled Elliott onto my lap for a story. I always find at the end of the day that these pockets of togetherness were usually the best times. (A nod to Jim Trelease, my own mother and so much darn good children's lit these days) Books line the shelves in Elliott's room. Beatrix Potter competes for space aside Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle and Tomie DePaola. Today, however, Dr. Suess won. Green Eggs and Ham. 50 vocabulary words, I CAN READ IT BY MYSELF, part of the Beginner Books collection from Scott's childhood. The copy he held in his hands, learned to read and before that colored in. (Elliott enjoyed the moment of thinking of his Papa as a naughty boy!) Who knew we'd all come so far from 62 pages of brilliant phonemic manipulation? And that 50 years after it was first published our children would find, in spite of the on-demand lives they live, that insistent Sam-I-Am still makes us all smile. Who ever thought of green eggs or green ham unless they were lost at the back of the fridge? And the nonsense of it all . . . those impossible creatures, trees and cars who were just a little too funky to be part of the real world. Perhaps its timelessness is in the conflict. Who hasn't resisted trying something new? And what child hasn't felt the fervor of their unrelenting, vegetable-pushing parent?

Even the big kids who drifted into the room today were drawn in. They paused in their play, captivated by cadence and pictures to stand and await the conclusion they've known since they were two.

Thank you, thank you Theodore Geisel. Yes we would read you in a box and we would read you with a fox and we would read you here or there. Yes, we would read you anywhere!